Pottsgrove School Board president to seek GOP nod for 146th House Dist.

LOWER POTTSGROVE — The field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination to run for the 146th District House seat got a little more crowded Thursday when Pottsgrove School Board President Justin Valentine became the third candidate to announce.

Valentine, 30, a Buchert Road resident, is in the third year of his first term on the Pottsgrove School Board and was chosen as its president in December.

He said his experience on the school board has opened his eyes to the issues related to education funding at a state-wide level, and said his perspective would be helpful in Harrisburg.

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“I think we need new people, fresh faces and to hear from younger people who have families and know what is going on in the schools,” said Valentine.

In addition to being vital to the Commonwealth’s future, education is also tied to so many of the other taxation and funding issues that can put that future in doubt, Valentine said.

“Education is tied to the pension crisis, to tax base development, to property tax reform, it all comes back to education,” Valentine said. “I am passionate about education and Pennsylvania is failing. We can do better.”

The property tax puzzle continues to vex education funding and local budgets, Valentine said, and although there have been a number of bills, few have been able to replace the revenue education loses under the reforms, and that worries him.”

“I also want to make sure we don’t over-tax people who may not have been paying much taxes under the current system,” Valentine said.

Valentine, whose mother is Pottstown Mayor Sharon Valentine-Thomas as well as the Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, said he is “unhappy” with how the political focus of the 146th District has shifted eastward with the redistricting that followed the 2010 Census.

Pottstown is now split between the 146th and the 26th districts and the Pottsgrove School District is divided between the 146th and the 147th districts.

According to Erik Arneson, a spokesman for the State Senate’s Republican Caucus, the elections will take place in the new districts, which will become officially effective on Dec. 1.

That means, in the case of the 146th District, voters in Upper Pottsgrove, West Pottsgrove and Pottstown Wards 1 and 2, will be voting in new districts.

Further, voters in Perkiomen Township and Trappe will be part of the 146th.

“I’m unhappy with how the redistricting has broken up our communities,” said Valentine. “I’m running because I want to make sure that Pottstown and Pottsgrove continue to have a voice in Harrisburg, even though its true that in many ways, the whole region faces many of the same issues.”

“Our party has the opportunity, not only to win back a seat that was lost in 2012, but also to send a strong messenger to Harrisburg who will represent this district with integrity and fidelity for a long time to come,” Valentine said in his announcement.

“As we look to the future, it is important that we begin to support candidates for state representative who represent the ideals of the Party while also possessing a demonstrable vested interest in the communities that make up our districts. Backing candidates that constituents can relate to and that will also be able to relate to the lives of constituents with earnest,” Valentine said.

Candidates for the primary election must file by March 11 and the primary election is May 20.

The current state representative in the 146th District is Democrat Mark Painter, who has not formally announced yet if he will seek re-election, but he recently told The Mercury he will most likely seek another two-year term in Harrisburg.